BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 285 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 20, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 285 (Gallagher) - As Amended April 23, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Judiciary |Vote:|10 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | |Local Government | |9 - 0 | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: Yes SUMMARY: This bill makes minor changes to the laws governing the registration of legal document assistants (LDAs). Specifically, this bill: AB 285 Page 2 1)Repeals the requirement that a registered LDA must display the expiration date of his or her registration on printed solicitation, papers, documents, and other printed materials, but does require the expiration date continue to appear on the written contracts required to be provided to a client, as well as on any website maintained by the LDA and in any solicitation, advertisement, document, or correspondence prepared or used by the LDA in electronic form. 2)Requires the county clerk to assign the same number upon renewal of registration to each legal document assistant (LDA) or unlawful detainer assistant (UDA) instead of requiring a new number to be assigned in the event of a lapse in the period of registration. FISCAL EFFECT: Any additional costs to county clerks should be minor and absorbable. COMMENTS: 1)Background. LDAs provide legal document preparation and self-help services to the public within defined parameters. LDAs may not provide any self-help service for compensation, unless registered in the county of their principal place of business, and any other county in which they serve clients. The term "self-help services" defines the activities that registered LDAs are specifically authorized to perform, which include completing legal documents in a ministerial manner and making published legal documents available to a person who is representing himself or herself in a legal matter. AB 285 Page 3 2)Purpose. This bill, sponsored by the California Association of Legal Document Assistants (CALDA), seeks modest changes to laws regarding the registration of LDAs, particularly disclosure rules that require LDAs to display certain registration information on all of their business materials and documents. First, the bill repeals the requirement that a registered LDA must display the expiration date of his or her registration on printed solicitation, papers, documents, and other printed materials, with exception of the written contract for services that must be provided to each client, as well as on any website maintained by the LDA and documents, correspondence or materials that are in electronic rather than printed form. Second, the bill would allow LDAs to keep the same registration number after periods of non-renewal. Proponents, including the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), contend that both changes are needed to reduce unnecessary cost burdens on LDAs, namely, by forcing them to regularly purchase new written materials and discard old materials whenever an expiration date or registration number changes. Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081